


Yield

by wildfirefoxtales



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 104th Training Corps Shenanigans, Armin's unconventional strategies gets him in trouble, Back when everyone thought he was scary, Before they graduate, F/M, Hand to Hand Combat Training, Keith Shadis swears, Mild Language, Romantic Arumika, arumika
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 15:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17368538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildfirefoxtales/pseuds/wildfirefoxtales
Summary: Mikasa Ackerman is strong. Armin Arlet does not yield.Routine hand-to-hand combat training requires Armin to think outside the box.





	Yield

**Author's Note:**

> This relationship is way too interesting to be in such a small corner of SNK fandom.

Armin Arlet had always known that Mikasa Ackerman was strong. Unlike some of the other recruits of the 104th training corps, he was not intimidated by this fact. He had known her since childhood and seen her take down bullies a hundred times. Listening to others gossip about her strength and poise in the mess hut made Armin secretly smile. Some of the other recruits, the boys especially, did not hold Mikasa’s obvious power in reverence. Some felt emasculated whenever she did a flawless air dive or an impeccable cut into the dummy titan’s ‘flesh’. They threw nasty names at her under their breath like ‘freak’, ‘monster’, or ‘teacher’s pet’. Though whether or not Mikasa ever heard these remarks she never deemed them a response. She instead continued to focus on her training. It was a trait Armin admired about her, not allowing herself to be goaded by people not worth her time. Something Armin himself struggled with, especially as a child, always arguing and pointing out his bullies flawed logic. It never really got him anything but a couple of bruises. But Mikasa was able to rise above all that.

No, for the most part, Mikasa Ackerman’s strength never really bothered Armin. Until he himself had to face it.

“Hand to hand combat training!” Keith Shadis, their instructor, roared as the recruits made their way into the yard after breakfast, the hot sun baking the dirt around them.

Inwardly Armin groaned, he was not particularly good at any of the physical training exercises, absolutely dismal was how Shadis had once described it, but hand to hand combat was by far his least favorite. Intellectually he knew that running laps increased his endurance, rock climbing improved his upper body strength and rope training helped with balance. All necessary skills for properly handling 3DM gear and furthering his goal in joining the Survey Corps. But hand to hand combat? Not so much. It was for those looking to join the Military Police, though even that was a weak excuse. The points one earned from a successfully 3DM lap far exceeded what anyone could gain by excelling in hand to hand combat. So even those hoping to one day be a part of the Military Police never really tried that hard. In short, Armin knew it was just a time filler while the proper obstacle courses were being set up for later.

Yet he did not protest, Armin never did, as Shadis and the rest of the instructors went about pairing people up and relaying the day’s drill. Today was all about subduing the enemy and getting them on the ground with their arms and legs suppressed. Simple enough in theory but Armin knew for the next hour he was going to spend a lot of time with his face in the dirt.

He quickly scanned his classmates, hoping to stand near Eren and possibly be assigned his partner. But as he caught a glimpse of his best friend he already saw that Eren was standing conspicuously close to Annie and Reiner on the other side of the training yard. Armin tried not to take the rejection to heart, Annie and Reiner were both very skilled, it made sense that Eren wanted to learn from the best even if that meant unconsciously leaving Armin alone to fend for himself. He would be lying if he said that didn’t sting a bit.

“Are you alright Armin?” A voice from behind him caused Armin to turn. Mikasa was looking down on him, concern in her voice as she took in his somewhat melancholy expression.

Armin quickly forced a smile and nodded back to Mikasa. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit queasy, think I maybe ate my breakfast too quickly,” he lied needlessly.

It was not that he didn’t trust Mikasa with his thoughts. It’s just that Mikasa was always so protective over himself and Eren. He didn’t mind it personally, it was just how she chose to express her feelings but he could tell Eren struggled with the attention and coddling. Armin thought it best to keep his feelings of isolation to himself lest he spread that mood to Mikasa and make her feel alone. He wouldn’t do that to her.

“Do you need to go to the infirmary?” Mikasa asked, worry underlying her soft voice. Her eyes scanning him up and down for any sign of illness.

Armin shook his head smiling. “No, no it’ll pass. Besides can’t miss out on all this useful training.”

Mikasa looked at him quizzically for a moment before deciding to drop the subject. Armin was just about to speak when “Ackerman! Arlet! You two are paired up.” boomed Shadis as he pointed his pencil to where the already paired up recruits were starting their training. “Let’s get moving people!”

Mikasa nodded to Shadis and started to make her way across the yard. Armin opened his mouth to protest but Shadis had already moved on to pairing up the rest of the recruits. He looked over to see Mikasa striding dutifully in front of him. Armin froze. After a moment she looked back at him with an eye raised. “Are you coming, Armin?”

What could he possibly say to that? Mikasa Ackerman was one of his oldest friends and though Armin knew he would end up bruised and beaten regardless of who his partner would be, Mikasa’s punches just hurt a little, okay, _a lot_ harder. Couldn’t he get a break?

But as Armin looked across the training yard he found that Mikasa was no longer looking at him. Her eyes had found Eren, paired with Annie, yelling and growing frustrated as she continued to throw him in the dirt. To anyone else, Mikasa would have looked the picture of composure but Armin could see the smallest sag in the back of her shoulders.

He found himself running across the yard and placing a hand on Mikasa’s shoulders. She seemed to snap out of whatever sad thought she’d been having and looked back at him a little surprised and disoriented. Armin raised his fists up at her, smiling cheekily as he slid into his fighting stance. “You’re going down Ackerman,” he said with humor in his voice, hoping against hope that it would be enough.

Mikasa blinked at him a couple of times trying to process Armin’s uncharacteristic enthusiasm for hand to hand combat. She knew it was his least favorite exercise so why was he so-? An arm came flying to her face and Mikasa found herself automatically dodging to her side.

She watched Armin’s arm reeled back in, shifting his stance. “Stay focused Mikasa or the enemy will take advantage of you.”

Armin’s face did not at all match the confidence in his voice but Mikasa seemed to finally get the message. For a split second the ghost of a smile crossed her face before she slid into her fighting stance, arms raised, legs spread apart, eyes focused.

“Sorry Armin,” she said softly. “It won’t happen again.” And with that she moved at lightning fast speed, spinning in a circle, leg extended, catching Armin in the back of the knees and forcing him off balance in the dirt.

 _Ow_ , Armin thought as he attempted to get up. But before he could so much as lift his head Mikasa was on him. Her thighs pressed his side locking his legs in place as she held his wrists above his head. Armin struggled to loosen her grip but as always her holds were like iron shackles around him. He was completely pinned.

Normally this would be where Armin would say ‘yield’, Mikasa would let him go and they would play this story out again another twenty or thirty times before being sent to another exercise field, Armin probably limping at that point. But as he looked up at his captor to speak his surrender he was suddenly caught by the look in her eyes. They were glassy and unfocused as if they were staring right through him. Her eyebrows were knitted together and her mouth was pulled in a firm line. She was suppressing something, Armin was sure. Some sort of feeling was trying to get past Mikasa’s steely grip of her emotions and it was winning. Armin didn’t need his top-tier intellect to take a guess at what that could be about.

Eren.

Had they been fighting again? Did he say something rude and impassive when she tried to help him? That’s usually how these things started. But what Eren failed to see after he threw a fit and stormed off was how hurt he always left Mikasa afterward. Most people wouldn’t see it either, given the way she hides her emotions but Armin wasn’t most people. It made his heart ache to see Mikasa so torn up over Eren’s thoughtless words. He had tried a few times to broach the subject with Eren, to ask him to be kinder but he found his request fell on deaf ears as Eren was often too absorbed in his training, not seeing that his words had consequences. So now Armin was trying a different tactic, to be as good of a friend as he could be for Mikasa. He knew she was too proud to ever open up about her hurt feelings, Mikasa was not one to believe in complaining, so the best Armin could offer was a distraction.

That’s what she needed right now, a distraction. It made Armin curse at his weak body. If he was stronger he could offer a proper fight, one that would force Mikasa to concentrate and give it her all. But that wasn’t going to work, especially now as she had him in such an inescapable deadlock.

Mikasa had seemed to snap out of her state and brought her attention back to Armin. She raised an eyebrow at him slightly when he remained silent, simply staring back at her.

“Do you yield?” she asked her hands tightening over Armin’s wrists, her thighs pressing into his legs unconsciously. A shock flew up Armin’s legs and burned in his chest and he suddenly became very aware of how long they had been in this precarious position. Usually, he yielded almost immediately and she was off of him in a second, offering her hand to help him up and start the process all over again. Usually, he was too battered and bruised to even notice how close she was to his face. Usually, he didn’t have the luxury to appreciate how her soft black hair haloed around her like a crown as she looked down at him. Usually…

But this wasn’t usual.

Armin had always known that Mikasa was beautiful. Since the day that Eren introduced her to him he was drawn to her shiny black hair, deep gray eyes and cute smile she kept hidden behind that scarf of hers. To say that Armin had had a bit of a crush would have been an understatement. He warmed up to her almost immediately.

Mikasa was quiet, shy and often clung to Eren wherever they went, some unspoken bond between them that at the time Armin didn’t understand. When Armin eventually learned of her trauma, his heart had filled with pity and he took even greater care to open up to her. He showed her his books almost immediately after that and though he never saw the same spark of wonder in her eyes the way he would see in Eren’s she would always listen to Armin, attentively. She stayed by his side as he read her the tales of deep salt waters, fields of ice and tall sandy bluffs beyond the walls. Armin told her of his plans to go beyond and see them all. His dream to reach the ocean.

Mikasa did not judge him nor dismiss his goals. She simply listened. Sometimes Armin couldn’t even get Eren to listen, he got so riled up and angry that he’d often leave in a huff, needing to blow off steam. But not Mikasa, she didn’t call him crazy or a heretic, she just listened.

Then inevitably came the day when Armin’s big mouth got him in trouble again. A group of bullies had him pinned against the wall and were taking turns throwing rocks at his head. He had shrunk down to the ground, arms thrown up to block his face when he had heard the sound of screams and scampering feet. Armin looked up to see Mikasa, shy and soft-spoken Mikasa, kick a bully squarely in the face, breaking his nose and causing him to shriek uncontrollably. The others got the hint and the group of them quickly dispersed and exited the alleyway.

Armin saw something in Mikasa that day, a hardness in her deep gray eyes. She knew what helplessness was. And just like that the darkness Armin had seen in Mikasa’s eyes vanished as she leaned down towards him, her arm outstretched, and that soft smile barely poking out behind her scarf. Armin took her hand and with strength he had not realized had always been there Mikasa pulled him up. In that moment Armin thought he was finally beginning to understand her. His heart had quickened when their hands connected.

But that was in the past. Armin had then soon realized that there was something _more_ in the way Mikasa looked at Eren. It was difficult to describe. Not a crush but not sisterly affection either. When Mikasa looked at Eren it was like the world stopped with him, like nothing else even mattered. _Including me_ , Armin had thought miserably at the tender age of ten. He had gotten over it though, just grateful to have such supportive friends in the first place, casting his own crush aside.

Yet now, with her face mere inches from his, taking up his entire field of view, Armin wondered incredulously how he could possibly forget Mikasa’s beauty. Staring into those sad gray eyes was taking his breath away.

“I-” Armin started as he once again began to struggle against Mikasa’s hold. She looked down at him confused but did not budge. “I do not yield,” Armin stated stubbornly, trying to break free.

A thought crossed his mind that Armin nearly rejected immediately. It was far too extreme of a measure and one that was sure to get him killed. Armin cursed his brain for even thinking such a thing. And yet…

If he was so determined not to yield and give way for this whole cycle again then Armin would be forced to use measures outside the box. He couldn’t rely on his strength to get him out of this position so he’d have to be tricky. It really was the only way.

A crowd of recruits was beginning to circle around them. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who noticed how long they’d been in this lock. Armin grimaced internally, he really didn’t want an audience for his next attempt at escape but sometimes life just didn’t go his way.

“Oi, Armin what do you think you’re trying to pull?” asked Reiner boisterously over the hum of gossip emitting from the recruits.

“This is _Mikasa_ we're talking about. Just yield already.” Jean yelled from the other side of the circle.

“Come on, Jean. Armin’s smart. If he’s not yielding he’s got a reason,” Marco shot back.

“Smart’s got nothing to do with it. He’s pinned. It’s over,” Connie sighed.

“‘Course you’d say that,” Ymir said haughtily as she rested an arm on Connie’s head. He quickly pushed it aside snapping at her. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t fight you two!” Christa cut in between them, arms spread out to create some distance.

“That’s my Christa. Always the peacemaker. Marry me when this exercise is over!”

“Come on, Armin. I know you can do it!” Sasha shouted and Armin had to smile at her unexpected but nevertheless appreciated show of support.

“Armin.” Mikasa’s voice cut through all of the chatter and suddenly she had his full and undivided attention. “Yield.” It was a command yet Armin could hear the sincerity in her voice. She was worried, worried that if Armin made an attempt to escape he’d end up hurting himself. And despite the bruises she always left him with, Mikasa never wanted Armin to needlessly injure himself. She wanted him to stop, for his sake.

But once Armin comes up with a plan he can’t back down until he sees it through. “No,” he said firmly before leaning his head forward and connecting his lips with hers.

Numerous gasps filled the circle but Armin didn’t pay attention to any of that. As he predicted Mikasa’s holds immediately loosened and her legs went slack from the shock of his bold move. Quickly Armin took advantage of the situation grabbing Mikasa by the hips and spinning her on her back. He locked her arms to her side and held her legs firmly with his thighs.

A hush went through the crowd, the only sound being Armin and Mikasa trying to catch their breath. Mikasa was staring up at him, face flushed, eyes bewildered, mouth slightly open. Armin searched her eyes, searching for what, he couldn’t be sure. Understanding? Approval?

She was looking at him in a way Armin had never seen before. Not through him but _into_ him. And then she smiled, one of those rare precious Mikasa smiles and Armin couldn’t help but smile back.

“I yield,” Mikasa said breathlessly.

In an instant, the crowd went nuts. Exclamations of shock and jubilation ripped through the trainees. As Armin released Mikasa and stood up he could see that the range of reactions was varied to be sure. Jean looked like he was on the verge of tears with Marco giving him a sympathetic pat. Connie had his jaw completely slacked while Ymir poked him insistently a knowing smirk on her face. Reiner gave Armin a quick nod of approval followed by a wink making Armin feel a little dirty. Sasha was whooping and hollering loudly into the air. Armin couldn’t help but appreciate her over-the-top joy with his victory. When both he and Mikasa were standing their classmates swarmed to them.

Thomas was the first to speak “Armin, why on earth did you do that?” he asked incredulously.

“Because it was the only way he was going to get out of that hold,” Ymir answered for him, a wicked glint in her eye that caused Armin to blush even harder.

“Is that true Armin?” And it was as if the crowd surrounding them suddenly faded for it was Mikasa asking the question. Her tone soft and neutral but when Armin turned back to her there was a flicker in her eyes that he couldn’t place. He felt his heart freeze, his mind reeled, looking for meaning that probably wasn’t there.

Probably.

It was a simple question really. Not even a question, just a confirmation. That this had all been a strategy to win the match, that he was her best friend and would never have an ulterior motive, that despite his intelligence he couldn’t think of single other means to defeat her.

His throat seemed to seal up as he attempted to speak, his eyes never leaving hers, staring at him with patient curiosity. Soft but strong, that was how her hand had felt the day she had reached out for him curled up against the wall, how her hug felt after his grandfather never came home and how her lips had felt mere moments ago. Soft but strong.

Finally, with a cough, he was able to get the words out.

“Yes,” he lied.

There was a flash of...something on her face before she set herself in a neutral expression and gave him a stiff nod. Was he going crazy or did she almost seem disappointed?

That couldn’t be right.

“What the hell are you no good pig-shits doing just standing around?! Get back to training!”

The group around them quickly scattered, forming back into pairs, Sasha looking scared out of her wits for being caught lounging, Ymir merely shrugged before sauntering back to her partner, a lazy arm resting on Christa’s shoulder. Jean for his part had to be physically pulled by Marco in order to snap him out of whatever daze he was in.

It seemed nearly all of his classmates had stopped their training to gawk at him and Mikasa, all expect Eren and Annie who were so absorbed in their (very one-sided) fight that they haven’t even noticed their fellow cadets congerating.

He looked to his side and saw that Mikasa was staring at Eren as well. Her hand had found the edge of her scarf and pulled it up over her mouth, a habit Armin knew she did when she was seeking comfort after something upset her.

It was never nice to feel ignored.

So Armin reached out.

“Mikasa?” He asked quietly, his arm going to her shoulder on instinct. He waited for her, patiently, to turn around. But whether it was to get her to focus on their training or to just look at him Armin couldn’t exactly say.

After a few more seconds she turned back to him, eyes shining but face smooth as porcelain. The light of the morning sun caught in her hair, making her look like one of those portraits of the three goddesses. Ethereal and powerful.

For a moment Armin forgot how to breathe. They stayed like that for a minute, just staring at each other before Armin took a deep breath and brought his shaking fists in front of his face.

“You ready?” He asked, his fists trembling slightly, a not-so-unpleasant shiver ran up his spine as Mikasa regarded him, a firm look in her eye.

She fell into a stance that matched his. “I will not fall for the same trick twice.” To anyone else, this could be perceived as a joke but not Mikasa. She meant it. He may have been able to catch her off guard once but fundamentally Mikasa would not yield. Not ever.

Armin’s eyes flickered over to the other side of the practice yard where his best friend was getting yet another face-full of dirt.

Mikasa was strong, in nearly every sense of the word.

Armin smiled weakly. “Oh, I have no doubt about that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always super appreciated. Arumika needs love!


End file.
